How JustAnswer Works:

Experts are full of valuable knowledge and are ready to help with any question. Credentials confirmed by a Fortune 500 verification firm.

Get a Professional Answer

Via email, text message, or notification as you wait on our site.Ask follow up questions if you need to.

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Rate the answer you receive.

Ask hhvgoetz Your Own Question

hhvgoetz, Rechtsanwalt, LL.M.

Category: German Law

Satisfied Customers: 2131

Experience: LL.M. in International Trade Law (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK)

48877684

Type Your German Law Question Here...

hhvgoetz is online now

Hi, I received a letter from a lawyer (from Hamburg) regarding

Customer Question

Hi,I received a letter from a lawyer (from Hamburg) regarding unpermitted use of information (map) on an ad i published on immowelt for the sale of an asset.Asset was purchased (for 4,000) by me through the internet auction. At the auction's website it was published by a description of the asset on their website, as well as variable images such as plans, pictures of the building etc, images of maps and plans were scanned i guess by the auction.I would like to send you here the letter of the lawyer all the information I printed from the Expose AGB of the auction houseso you can tell me how to proceed, and what are my rights and faults.The way I see things, all images were a description of the object and I am naturally allowed to use them (it said nowhere it is not allowed on the image).What should I write the lawyer bacK?Thanks and regards

there are several lawyer who are in this business of controlling author's rights for their clients.

In these cases in order to reduce the costs it is vitally important to respect the short time period established for reaction. If you don't do so and don't even call the risk is high of receiving a preliminary court order (Einstweilige Verfügung) which makes the whole issue mor expensive. The lawyer cannot wait more that 1-2 weeks for your reaction without loosing the right to take preliminary court action in order to make sure that you won't continue violation the author's rights or will do it again.

However, never do sign the prepared form (Unterlassungserklärung) which comes with the lawyer's letter. Usually it goes further than necessary and may cut off possibilities to reduce costs of the lawyer and damages or reduce the risk in breaking the agreement of not repeating the violation (Vertragsstrafe) which may become even more expensive.

In any case, the fact that you may no have known that it is not legal to abuse author's rights will not help. No author is obliged to tell you even if you can access the information for free. It is just the other way round: The author has to give you explicit permission to use his work.

Thus, you should immediatly attend a lawyer near you doing intellectual property law (Urheberrecht) in order to check all the paper work. Talk about the costs beforehand, but you should calculate around 200 Euros. The money will be well invested.

This expert is wonderful. They truly know what they are talking about, and they actually care about you. They really helped put my nerves at ease. Thank you so much!!!!AlexLos Angeles, CA

Thank you for all your help. It is nice to know that this service is here for people like myself, who need answers fast and are not sure who to consult.GPHesperia, CA

I couldn't be more satisfied! This is the site I will always come to when I need a second opinion.JustinKernersville, NC

Just let me say that this encounter has been entirely professional and most helpful. I liked that I could ask additional questions and get answered in a very short turn around. EstherWoodstock, NY

Thank you so much for taking your time and knowledge to support my concerns. Not only did you answer my questions, you even took it a step further with replying with more pertinent information I needed to know. RobinElkton, Maryland

He answered my question promptly and gave me accurate, detailed information. If all of your experts are half as good, you have a great thing going here.DianeDallas, TX

Meet The Experts:

RA Schiessl

Attorney

Satisfied Customers:

17

Attorney-at-law with more than 16 years of experience - board certified specialist.

Ask a Lawyer

Get a Professional Answer. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.

117 Lawyers are Online Now

Type Your German Law Question Here...

characters left:

DISCLAIMER: Answers from Experts on JustAnswer are not substitutes for the advice of an attorney. JustAnswer is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Expert above is not your attorney, and the response above is not legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains.

The responses above are from individual Experts, not JustAnswer. The site and services are provided “as is”. To view the verified credential of an Expert, click on the “Verified” symbol in the Expert’s profile. This site is not for emergency questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service (last updated February 8, 2012).